Cut-out and release for air-brake apparatus.



S. P. COTA.

CUT-OUT AND RELEASE FOR AIR BRAKE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2. I914.

Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

S'. P. COTA.

CUT-OUT AND RELEASE FOR AIR BRAKE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2. 1914.

Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

SIMON r. corn, or ronrnnivn, onncoiv.

CUT-OUT AND RELEASE FOR AIR-BRAKE APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14,1915.

Application filed March 2, 1914.. Serial No. 822,018.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SIM N P. COTA, a citizenof the United States of America, residing at Portland, in the county ofMultnomah and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cut- Outs and Releases for Air-Brake Apparatus, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawing. i

This invention relates to air brakes and the principal object of theinvention is the production of an eflicient means whereby the train crewmay be advised as to the condition of the air which is adapted toactuate the air brakes, and will at the same time be advised as to wherea break occurs it such a break shouldoccur in the train pipe or brakemechanism.

The present invention is an improvement upon my previous patents bearingNumbers 943,769 and 952,070, and therefore, the improvement in thepresent invention resides in the means for indicating the point of breakby which the train crew may be readily advised so as to eiiicientlylocate the point where the break has occurred in the train pipe in orderthat the same maybe quickly and efficiently repaired. I I

With these and other objects in view this invention consists of certainnovel combinations, constructions, and arrangements of parts as will behereinafter fully described and claimed.- i

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a perspective view of aportion of the floor of the car with parts thereof being broken away toshow the improved cut out and release mechanism for the air brakes.

Fig. 2 is a central transverse section through the body of a car showingthe arrangement of the several pipes and brake mechanism as carried bvthe car. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the signaling apparatus used forindieating the pressure within the brake. cylinder. Fig. 4c is avertical section through the plunger casing or cylinder. Fig. 5 is asection taken on line 66, of Fig. 4:. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectionalview taken through the lower end of the piston rod showing the manner inwhich the piston head is secured to the piston rod. Fig. 7 is atransverse section through the forward end of the auxiliary reservoirshowing the manner in which the drain pipe is connected thereto. 4

the indicators 5 and 6.

It should be borne in mind that by means of the air and electric devicesherein described, the working of the air' brakes will cause a signal tobe displavcd in each car when the brakes are applied so that it can bequickly ascertained ifall brakes are properly working. It should beunderstood that the indicating devices may be placed in any position orin any portion of the car to suit the convenience of the user withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, for it is not necessary tolimit the position of the device to any particular portion of the car.

By referring particularly to Fig. at it will be seen that an electricsignaling device is produced which comprises a cylinder 1 having aplunger rod 2 slidablymounted therein. 'lhis signaling device asparticularlv illustrated in Fig. 4 is adapted to work automaticallv withthe air brake system and iscontrolled bv means of the movement of thebrake cylinder head 3 mounted in the brake cvlinder 4-. This system willbe controlled at all times insetting and releasing the brakes causedbythe engineer or operator, or from a break or leak or any other causethat may reduce the train line or train pipe pressure enough to changethe position of the usual triple valve. I The construction of the signalespecially illustrated in Fig. at is similar to that disclosed in myprevious Patent Number 952,070, with the exceptio'not' a slightmodification oi the piston head and cylinder used therewith. It is,

therefore, thought unnecessary to go into thedetail explanation of thisconstruction other than to give a general description as to theoperation and use of the signal mechanism in connection with thatportion of the structure more specifically illustrated in Fig. 1. It hasbeen found through practical experience-that where a leak or break inthe train pipe occurs and the discovery of this leak is left to thetrain crew, considerable damage and inconvenience is the result, whichrequires the stopping of the train in order to ascertain the place orpoint of leak or break of pipe along the train line or train pipe.

By means of the device more specifically herein described, it should beunderstood that the train crew will be enabled to be at all timesadvised as to the defects along the train pipe by consulting andcomparing The break in the pipe may be remedied by cutting off thebrakes from the car in which the break has occurred and thereby allowthe rest of the brakes of the train to efliciently operate withoutcausing any damage to be done by the operation of that portion of thebrake mechanism which has been put out of commission by means of thebreak along the pipe.

By referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that 7 indicates the floor of thecar and beneath the floor of the car is suspended the train pipe 8. Abranch pipe 9 extends from the train pipe 8 as illustrated in Fig. 1,and this branch pipe 9 carries a cut-out 10 which is actuated by meansof a rotating rod 11, having its upper end squared as indicated at 12for receiving an operating tool. The upper end 12 is mounted within asocket 13 as illustrated in Fig. 1, and as is more clearly described indetail in my previous Patent Number 943,769. The pipe 9 also carries theusual triple valve 14, and this triple valve 14 communicates with thebrake cylinder 15. The pipe 9 has a pipe communication 16 with theauxiliary reservoir 17.

The auxiliary reservoir 17 is provided with a drain pipe 18, which drainpipe carries a drain cock 19 at one end, which cock is operated by meansof an operating rod 20, having its upper end seated within the socket 13so as to allow the train crew to have access thereto for opening thecock 19 when it is desired to drain the auxiliary reservoir 17 frommoisture or other substance which has accumulated therein.

A gage pipe 21 is connected to, the train pipe 8 and extends under thecar and this gage pipe 21 carries a vertically extending pipe 22, whichpipe supports a gage 6 for indicating the amount of pressure along thetrain pipe 8. As stated above, the gage 6 may be placed in any desiredposition upon the car to suit the convenience of the train crew.

As has been stated, the cylinder 1 comprises part of the mechanism foroperating an electric signal so that the attention of the train crew maybe called to the gage 5 which serves as a visible signal and is ofspecial value as a night signal. For daylight use the gage in itselfwould ordinarily be siiilicient, as it is supported by the branch pipein a conspicuous position. In order to provide for using the gage 5independently, the service pipe 23 may be provided with a plug valve 2stabove the branch pipe 25, which branch pipe leads to the gage 5 so as tocut oil communication with the cylinder 1 when it should be so desired.

' The cylinder 1 is provided with a detachable cap 26 at its lower endfor engaging the pipe 23, and this cap 26 is provided with a socket 27formed therein for receiving the lower end 28 of the piston rod 2. Thecasing 1 is provided with a filler block 29 having an aperture 30 formedtherein through which the piston rod 2 extends. A bufler block 31 ismounted within the cylinder 1 and through this buffer block 31 alsoextends the plunger rod 2.

A plunger head 32 is carried upon the lower end of the plunger rod 2,and this plunger head 32 comprises a pair of sections between which ismounted a washer 33.

This washer may be formed of leather or other suitable material. Thelower end of the plunger head 82 is provided with a tapering threadedaperture 3i in which is threadthe plunger head 32 against the pressureof the air adapted to be admitted therein. An electric contact mechanism37 is carried by the upper end of the plunger rod 2 for closing thecircuit through the wires 38 and 39 for operating the signal 40. It willbe seen that the buffer block 31 will constitute a means for limitingthe upper movement of the plunger head 32, thereby re lievingconsiderable pressure from the spring 36 and preventing injury thereto.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a very efiicientmeans has been produced whereby a cut-out may be obtained for releasingthe air brakes when a. train is in motion.

By means of the present invention the train crew may be readily advisedwhether the pressure gage 6 and air signal 5 is caused from a detectionof the train line caused by the engineer in stopping his train or from aleak as by comparing these two gages the trainmen will be fully advisedas to the condition of the pressure of the train line. As for instance,provided the gage (i should register one hundred pounds and the airsignal 5 should register fifteen or twenty pounds, the trainmen wouldhave positive assurance that a leak had occurred or a sticky triplevalve was located upon the car in which the indication appeared upon thepressure gage 6 carried by that car. train crew by passing from car tocar may readily read the gages and as soon as one gage is found toregister in the manner above described he will know where to locate thetrouble which has occurred to the train line or pipe. If a leak shouldoccur in the train pipe, this leak may be easily remedied by cuttingofi' the brakes from the car in which the leak should occur by theoperation of the valve 10 as above described.

The

[iii

As above stated, it should be further understood that the presentinvention may be applied in any position upon the car to suit theconvenience of the train crew or suit the design of the manufacturer ofthe car.

It should be understood that the present invention is also efficient forlocating the point at which dynamiting occurs in the cylinders andvalves due to the accumulation of grit or other foreign substance Whichmay have entrance to the valves and cylinders. Dynamiting, of course,greatly hampers the operation of the brakes and by allowing the traincrew to readily locate the point at which the dynamiting occurs a greatadvantage has been produced.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. A device of the class described comprising a brake cylinder, anelectric contact member, a signal operating casing, a signal operatingmechanism carried by the said casing a plunger rod carried by saidcasing and adapted to actuate said signal operating mechanism, a plungerhead carried by said casing and mounted upon said plunger rod, saidplunger rod provided with means for binding said head thereon, means forexerting a downward pressure upon said plunger head, a filler blockpositioned in the upper end of said casing, a compression memberengaging said filler block, and said compression member adapted to beengaged by said plunger head for limiting the upward movement thereof.

2. A device of the class described comprising a brake cylinder, anelectric contact member, a signal operating casing, a signal operatingmechanism carried by the said casing a plunger rod carried by saidcasing and adapted to actuate said signal operating mechanism, a plungerhead carried by said casing and mounted upon said plunger rod, saidplunger rod provided with means for binding said head thereon, a fillerblock positioned in the upper end of said casing, a compression memberengaging said filler block, a spring carried by said plunger rod forexerting a downward pressure upon said plunger head, and saidcompression means provided with means for receiving said spring and saidcompression means also constituting means for limiting the upwardmovement of said plunger head within said casing.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

SIMON P. COTA.

Witnesses F. O. HALDEMAN, W. K. OGDEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

